All language subtitles for A.C.f.A.S02E01.Treasures.of.the.Lost.Kingdom.1080p.DSNP.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-Kitsune

Today in China,
archaeology is uncovering

a previously unknown
ancient civilization,

a culture that left behind
stunning treasures

of otherworldly bronze
and glittering gold.

This gold is unlike anything
I have ever seen before,

a long lost treasure buried
for thousands of years.

And it's stirring up a massive
mystery about the very origins

of one of the greatest
and oldest

civilizations on Earth.

So, what was this lost kingdom?

How powerful and sophisticated
were they?

Whoa!

That's incredible.

And can technology help us
reveal how these new discoveries

change the story
of ancient China.

I'm Sam Willis, an archaeologist

and expert
in ancient civilizations,

and I'm going to investigate
China's distant past

from a whole new perspective.

From above.

Today,
state-of-the-art satellites

and specialized drones
can reveal the Earth

in stunning detail

and detect hidden archaeology,

enabling us to recreate
lost ancient worlds,

invisible to the naked eye.

Working alongside
leading Chinese experts,

my team and I will travel
to some of the country's

most remote
and incredible landscapes

and with cutting-edge science,

investigate previously
unknown cultures,

lost cities,
and enduring legends.

This is ancient China
as you've never seen it before.

One place has always
dominated the story

of the very beginnings
of ancient China.

The Yellow River.

Look anywhere in the world,

and rivers are always
the lifeblood

of early civilizations.

The Nile in Egypt,
the Tigris in Mesopotamia,

and the mighty Yellow River
is the Nile of the east.

China's Yellow River is one
of the longest on the planet,

weaving more than 3,000 miles
through this vast country.

Its fertile banks gave rise
to ancient cultures

and would conceal and preserve
the incredible treasures

they created
for thousands of years.

That's amazing!

These finds discovered
in a place called Yinxu

are over 3,000 years old.

I was expecting maybe
one or two pieces,

there are about 50 in there.

Yue Zhanwei is guardian
of a whole array

of exquisite bronze treasures,

all created by China's
very first recorded dynasty,

a sophisticated ancient
civilization called the Shang.

This is a jug for alcohol.

So you pour the alcohol in here,

and then you use this vessel
to drink it.

From ceremonial bowls
to drinking vessels,

3,000 years ago,

this was cutting-edge
design and technology.

It's surprisingly heavy.

It's a significant
artifact, this.

They built things to last,
these guys.

Discoveries like
those of the Shang,

alongside others from even
earlier Stone Age cultures,

once led experts to believe

this was where Chinese
civilization all began.

But there's a mystery.

Far away from the Yellow River,

across a seemingly impenetrable
mountain range,

new discoveries are being made

of a long-lost kingdom
in the south,

that are turning everything
we once thought we knew

on its head.

Now, with my team of experts,
historian Douglas Flowe,

archaeologist Janice Li,

and tech team leader
Zhang Jianwei,

we'll be working alongside
Chinese archaeologists

to investigate
this great mystery.

The site of our long-lost
kingdom is called Sanxingdui.

And it's one of the most
cutting-edge excavations

on the planet.

Within a forensically
isolated hangar,

experts in protective suits
are carefully unearthing

its spectacular remains.

Access is strictly controlled,
but one of our team, Janice Li,

has been given special
permission to join the dig.

Janice has worked for years

on China's famous
Terracotta Warriors.

But the finds here are
every bit as extraordinary.

It's so exciting.

They are taking some
final pieces from the pit,

and it's very special
to allow me to be involved.

So, what you're doing today is cleaning these

and taking them out
layer by layer?

Yes, we've finished cleaning

the top layer.

We just need to extract
the objects now.

The very first artifacts
were unearthed here

almost a century ago, in 1929.

But it wasn't until the 1980s
that finds were made

that began to really astonish
Chinese experts.

A vast array of ancient wonders,
hidden for thousands of years

since they were broken
and buried in sacrificial pits.

Historian Douglas Flowe
is heading

into the Sanxingdui Museum,

which houses some of the most
extraordinary artifacts

to have been excavated so far.

Wow! Look at all this!

These stunning bronze treasures

were all found here
at Sanxingdui.

This is amazing.

Carbon dating revealed they were
cast around 3,000 years ago,

like those of the Shang.

But these designs are so unusual

they are unlike any other
ancient artifact on Earth.

It looks almost like something
out of a sci-fi film.

It looks kind of like an alien.

This one's really cool.

It looks like a superhero
with this intricate headdress.

In all, almost 60 bronze heads.

And one in particular seems
to hold a special power.

I think this one stands
above them all.

You cannot avoid those eyes.

It has to have been something
or someone very special.

Such striking protruding
eyes have only ever been found

on these masks from Sanxingdui.

Even as finds continue to emerge
from the earth today,

the meaning of these treasures

and the identity
of the civilization

that created them
still fascinates experts.

This is so, so amazing.

This is Sanxingdui
protruding eye.

I saw this very special eye
many times,

but I never held this
piece of eye in my hand.

Utterly distinctive,
these unique cylindrical eyes

must be a clue
to our mystery civilization.

But what could they mean?

The Sanxingdui people
seem obsessed with the eyes.

When we understand
the mystery of eyes,

we may understand more
about Sanxingdui people.

Then another
incredible find emerges.

Hidden amongst
the broken bronze,

glittering fragments of gold.

This is probably
from a golden mask

or other part and pieces
of golden objects.

It's so amazing.

The gold object is
really valuable

and really, really rare.

Unlike many
ancient cultures,

the Chinese usually cast their
most important items in bronze.

But here at Sanxingdui,
it seems gold was used

to create some
very special wonders.

Wow, now this
is really amazing.

A ceremonial staff, exquisitely
decorated in gold leaf.

Resident archaeologist
Xu Danyang suspects

that inscriptions on the staff
could be significant.

We can see a complex pattern

on one end of the golden staff,

which includes
four types of symbol.

One is a fish.

And one is a bird.

There's also an arrow
through the fish.

And an image of a human face.

And there also
seems to be a crown.

A suggestion that this
could be a royal scepter.

Maybe the image
represents a king.

Maybe it represents
the oracles of the time

or other powerful people.

This piece is
absolutely fascinating.

Just to imagine that
it survived for so long.

And these symbols
on the scepter, the fish,

the bird, the human face
that possibly has a crown on it,

they're trying
to tell us something.

This is our great mystery.

Just what was this civilization

that made such
incredible treasures?

And how do they match up to
China's first recorded dynasty,

the mighty Shang?

To hunt for answers, I need to
go back to the Shang's homeland,

the Yellow River.

The Yellow River Valley
has always been regarded

as a cradle
of Chinese civilization.

It's called the Yellow River
because of this stuff,

the sediment that gives its
water that distinctive color.

It's the most sediment-laden
river in the world,

and the fertile lands it creates

have played
a hugely important part

in the development
of early Chinese civilizations.

Long before the Ming Great Wall

or the iconic
Terracotta Warriors,

China's first recorded dynasty
emerged: the Shang.

I've seen the Shang's
impressive bronze treasures.

Now I'm headed for the heart
of the modern city of Zhengzhou,

because I've been told that
the Shang also left behind

something much, much bigger.

Wow! Look at that!

Right in the middle of a city!

A huge ancient wall
that dates all the way back

to the time of the Shang.

You can see that
it's made of rammed earth,

that's earth layered
on top of itself

and then hammered down
until it's hard like concrete,

and it runs off
in either direction for miles.

While the modern city
has shot up all around,

this ancient wall has
miraculously survived.

It's incredible to think that
this wall has stood here strong

for 3,500 years.

Three stories high, it's
an impressive sight even today.

But what was it for?

To answer that,
we need to see it from space.

In satellite imagery, the true
scale and shape of the wall

become apparent.

So we're standing here.

This is this section of wall,
but you can see how it goes off

all the way around there
and then turns a corner.

These are clearly
the remains of the walls

of what was once a massive city.

From above, these city walls

form an almost
rectangular shape.

And there's more,

because excavations
have revealed evidence

of another outer city wall.

Altogether they encircle an area
of nearly 10 square miles.

It's believed this was once

the Shang's grand capital.

Just think of the manpower,

the sheer effort
it would have taken

to build walls on this scale
back then.

It's a reminder
that civilization

isn't just about emperors
and kings.

It's about the toil
of regular people

whose names have
long been forgotten.

And this is their memorial.

I've seen the Shang's advanced
bronze casting technology,

and now, evidence
of their vast city.

A cornerstone
of any civilization,

cities are an indication
of social hierarchy

and centralized power.

That's why the Shang
are considered the bedrock

of Chinese civilization.

It's not just their technology

or their treasures
or their enduring traditions.

It's their megacity.

And it's still here,
even after thousands of years

hiding in plain sight.

So what about
our mystery civilization?

Hundreds of miles away from
the cradle of the Yellow River,

far to the south...

...the excavations at Sanxingdui
are revealing evidence

of advanced technology
every bit a match for the Shang.

The question now is,
did they have a city, too?

And if so, how did it compare
to the Shang's mighty capital?

To investigate,
I'm turning to our tech team.

Zhang Jianwei is preparing
to scan the area

around where Sanxingdui's
treasures have been found.

I was up here earlier,
but it's very difficult

to make out exactly
what's going on.

What's the best way
of scanning this?

From the sky!

We're using a technology
called LiDAR.

Millions of laser pulses
are fired down to the ground

allowing us to create a model
of the entire surface

with pinpoint accuracy.

They've just sent up the drone,

and it's always the most
exciting moment,

because you never know
what they're going to find.

What I'm hoping they'll find
will absolutely transform

the way we think
about this location.

Archaeologists here have
previously identified

a series of raised areas

believed to be part
of a settlement.

But LiDAR technology
has never been deployed

over Sanxingdui before,

and if it works,
it should reveal details

impossible to see
with the naked eye.

After a full day's flying
and several hours processing,

it's time to take my first look
at what they've found.

Hi, guys!
Hi.

What have we got?

Check this.

At first, the area looks
like nothing more than patches

of scrubland
and farmer's fields.

But the LiDAR allows us
to tear away the vegetation,

to reveal something massive.

We are using
the different colors to indicate

the different heights
of the surface of the ground.

These huge banks
are ancient earthworks.

There it is!

It's like we've gone back
thousands of years.

You can suddenly see the
landscape that's been hidden.

It's so clever.

It's an incredible amount
of earth, isn't it?

Yes.

And in the data,

a stone's throw from where
the treasures have been found,

more evidence
of huge earthworks.

It's kind of come alive,

everything really
kind of pops out.

Yes.

The very first
LiDAR survey of Sanxingdui

is revealing several sections
of raised ground.

And their size and length means
they can only be one thing:

huge ancient walls.

From the scan,
what are we seeing

in terms of scale of the walls?

It's about
164 feet on the bottom

and about 98 feet on the top.

That's massive, isn't it?

It's an incredible achievement.

So we've got four different bits
of wall in different locations

and in different orientations.

That's a city, right?

Yes, definitely.

Our brand new data
confirms that this civilization

also had a city,
just like the Shang.

But how big was it?

And how powerful were they?

While the tech team
widens their search,

I'm going to try
to find out more

about the people who created it.

Treasures have been
unearthed from Sanxingdui

for almost a century.

And its ancient ground continues
to give up relics of the people

who lived here
more than 3,000 years ago.

Clues to their lives,
rituals and beliefs.

Have a look, this one.

So that's a small bronze bird
hanging on the bottom.

It's very delicate,
and it's really amazing.

Janice and Douglas are
witness to exquisite finds

that challenge the traditional
view that the Yellow River

was the sole birthplace
of Chinese civilization.

And here at Sanxingdui,
there are always new surprises.

If we
use a flashlight to light it.

Oh, thank you.

Wow, that's beautiful.

She just found this, just now?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

This piece is really special.

We've found a small piece
like this once before,

similar to jade.

And it was in the same place,

inside the throat of a mythical
animal from pit number eight.

How amazing.

This is literally the first time

this piece of jade
has seen daylight

since it was placed in there
by someone

thousands of years ago.

Many beliefs of the Sanxingdui
people remain unexplained.

But there's one
remarkable artifact,

meticulously restored since
its discovery over 30 years ago

that connects
our mystery civilization

to an enduring Chinese legend.

Wow!

That's amazing.

I've never seen a bronze
sculpture that large before.

It's got to be
at least 20, 25 feet.

There's so many things
to look at here.

There are birds
on three different levels.

And then there are leaves

and possibly fruit
hanging from the branches.

Wow, this is really amazing.

This appears to be
some kind of tree of life,

a symbol found in many cultures
all around the world,

including here in China,

where their version
is called a Fusang tree.

According to legend,
each day one of 10 sun crows

would travel around the world,

leaving the other nine
resting in the Fusang tree.

And sitting in the branches of
our bronze tree are nine birds.

Could the people of Sanxingdui
have been

the original architects
of a belief

that would become one
of China's greatest legends?

So if this is a Fusang tree, is
this the earliest Fusang tree?

Yes, it is!

This kind of seems
like the beginning of a myth

that has evolved
over thousands of years.

The story seems to have become

more and more well-known,

and it spread from Sanxingdui
to other parts of China.

So now the story
is heard everywhere.

Wow. That's amazing.

So, it seems the people
from Sanxingdui

did leave their mark
on Chinese culture.

Their influence
was simply forgotten

and lost in the mists of time.

By piecing together
broken fragments,

experts are gradually
decoding the beliefs

and the lost influence of this
extraordinary civilization.

But there's something missing
in the story of Sanxingdui

that's puzzling me.

Why are we only finding out
about this now?

Why do we know so much
about the Shang,

and yet the people of Sanxingdui
and this connection

to their beliefs and religion
has vanished from history.

We now know that both the Shang
and the people of Sanxingdui

had advanced technology, cities,

and beliefs that left their mark
on Chinese culture.

But to search for clues
that could tell us

why the story of the Shang
has endured,

while that of Sanxingdui
has been forgotten,

I'm heading once more
to the Yellow River Valley

to explore some very special
Shang discoveries

that could hold answers.

Wow!

The ancient shell of a turtle
covered in tiny carvings.

I've heard all
about these before,

and I never thought that
I'd ever be so privileged

as to hold one in my hand.

This is evidence
of another development

key to building any
advanced civilization.

This is among the oldest writing
anywhere on Earth.

And even though
it's 3,000 years old,

it's a wonderful similarity
to modern Chinese script.

Known as Jia Gu Wen,
meaning oracle bone script,

these incredible artifacts
contain messages

written by the Shang

seeking guidance and advice
from the gods.

Jia Gu Wen was
from 3,000 years ago.

It's the first complete
Chinese writing system.

From this, Chinese characters
continually evolve

throughout history.

Advanced technology,
a powerful city,

and now, writing.

The oracle bones open
a window into history,

reinforcing the place
of the Shang

as China's great
founding dynasty.

And it presents
another challenge

for our new
mystery civilization.

So the question is, is there
any evidence back in Sanxingdui

that they had writing, too?

For decades,

archaeologists working
at Sanxingdui

have been looking for signs
of ancient writing.

And a breakthrough clue
might have been discovered.

Douglas has been called in to
Sanxingdui's conservation center

where archaeologists
have been examining

an unusual bronze artifact

that carries traces
of a very special material.

It looks like
some sort of textile,

some sort of fabric.

Yes.

From what we see
on this specific sample,

we can clearly tell
this is made of woven material.

Combined with what we have
analyzed so far,

we've come to the conclusion
that this is silk.

A tiny fragment of silk.

Central to Chinese culture
through the ages,

ever since being created
in China 5,000 years ago,

silk was a luxurious preserve
of emperors and nobility,

its technology a closely guarded
secret for millennia.

Numerous traces of silk have
been discovered at Sanxingdui.

But intriguingly, this fragment
has a different weave

to that found in clothing.

And there's something else.

There's some, some substance
there on the picture,

like here, these,
it almost looks like mud.

Yes, it's a good observation.

We think it is possible
a substance was applied

to the surface of the silk.

Guo Jianbo suspects
this substance acted

as a protective coating.

Not in preparation for wearing,
but for writing.

Because as well
as turtle shells,

and before paper,

ancient Chinese cultures
also wrote on silk.

It's a major breakthrough.

We've got evidence
of bronze-making, of a city,

and now possibly evidence
that they even had writing.

And all seemingly in isolation,

to the south
of a mountain divide,

far from the Yellow River.

It seems the old view in which
the Yellow River dominates

the story of the origins
of China is wrong.

There was another version
of history.

We just didn't know it.

But there's still
one thing missing:

the name of our lost kingdom.

Hear the word Shang,
and pretty much anyone in China

will immediately think
of that great founding dynasty

of Chinese civilization,

while their southern equal
has been lost.

The problem is, while the Shang
wrote their own history,

only the suggestion of writing
survives at Sanxingdui.

But could there be any record
of their history in later texts?

Janice is scouring
ancient legends,

stories written more than
1,000 years after Sanxingdui,

and in them is
an intriguing reference.

I got several
ancient texts here,

so one of them mentioned
the fish bird king, Yu Fu.

Remember the golden staff
discovered at Sanxingdui?

With depictions
of a fish, a bird,

and what could be the head
of a king complete with crown.

Might this be connected
to Janice's lead?

If so, then it's a massive clue,
because in Janice's text,

the legendary Yu Fu
is said to have ruled

a people called the Shu.

Could they be
our mystery civilization?

Douglas is picking up the trail,

heading into the remote
Qinling Mountains

in search of the Shu.

This is getting
extremely steep and treacherous

and twisty and narrow
the further I go up here.

This precarious ancient trail
is part of an entire network

of routes that snake
through the Qinling Mountains,

and I'm here
because of their name.

These amazing ancient pathways
are known as the Shudao,

which translates
to the Shu roads.

Built in the 4th century BCE,

these tracks are some
of the oldest evidence

of the mysterious Shu Kingdom,

said to have once ruled
southern China's Sichuan Basin.

Their construction
was an amazing feat.

It was once assumed
the Qinling Mountains

that stretch 1,000 miles from
east to west were impenetrable.

Part of ranges
that cut China in two,

dividing ancient communities,
even entire civilizations,

to the north and south.

But these roads show
the Shu found ways

to cross this perilous barrier.

Alright, so I'm here.

This is the Shudao road,
and you can see all of these

other dozens of Shudao roads
snaking through the mountains.

It's really amazing.

Thought to stretch
for around 2,500 miles,

they show that the Shu
established connections

with the lands
of the Yellow River

to the north.

But in trying to find out
if they were our lost kingdom,

there's a problem.

These roads date to
1,000 years after Sanxingdui.

But supposing the Shu
did exist earlier,

could they also have breached
the mountains back then

and be known to the Shang?

Janice has been studying
scans of the Shang oracle bones,

and in them there's a symbol
that looks familiar.

This character
in the oracle bones

with a big eye and a curly tail
in the bottom,

this is really like a worm.

Based on the shape
of a silkworm,

experts believe it bears
a striking resemblance

to a character
still in use today.

And this modern character
refers to the Shu.

This could mean that the Shang
were writing about the Shu

on their oracle bones,

suggesting the Shu really did
exist more than 3,000 years ago;

the time of our lost kingdom.

But is there any
physical evidence

that could link the Shu
to Sanxingdui itself?

Perhaps the answer has literally
been staring us in the face

from the start.

These amazing bronzes have
always confounded experts,

because they seem so different
to everything we know.

But that uniqueness
might be the very thing

that we're searching for.

Because we might
be able to connect these

directly with the Shu.

Scouring more ancient legends,
Janice has found another clue.

In text, it mentions
the first king of Shu, Cancong.

So that means "silkworm bush."

The legends suggest that
the first Shu king was named

after something we know was
important in Sanxingdui culture.

And there's something else:

a crucial description
of the king's appearance.

Here has something
really interesting.

So this text mentioned the first
Shu king has protruding eyes.

That reference to
protruding eyes is so specific,

you can't help but think about
the bronze heads of Sanxingdui,

and especially
the biggest of them all.

These unique cylindrical eyes
were perplexing.

But now at last they could have
a remarkable explanation.

Because Chinese experts suspect

that this is a depiction
of the king, Cancong himself.

And if that's the case,
then this is physical evidence

of an amazing
advanced civilization

that developed here in Sichuan.

All the evidence now points
to a stunning conclusion:

that the people of Sanxingdui
were indeed the Shu.

And that the Shang knew of them,
3,000 years ago.

But just how powerful were they?

A lesser kingdom to the south?

Or true equals
of the mighty Shang themselves?

I'm hoping my tech team
will have an answer.

The Yellow River Valley
and its mighty Shang Dynasty

has long dominated the story
of the origins of ancient China.

But across the mountains
far to the south,

another long-forgotten kingdom
has been revealed: the Shu.

Like the Shang, they had
advanced technology

and possibly even writing.

But did their city
match up to that

of their celebrated
northern neighbors?

Our initial scans detected signs
of massive city walls.

To help us make sense of them,

we've been joined by Sanxingdui
lead archaeologist, Qiao Gang,

whose excavations
are revealing details

of what was once
within the walls.

We found a large group

of residential buildings.

It's over 1,000 square meters.

And the style of construction

is quite special.

We suspect it might be
palaces or temples

from the period of Sanxingdui.

Now, from our scans
and Qiao's excavations,

we can rebuild this inner city
as it once might have looked.

Qiao believes this ceremonial
area was the beating heart

of the city
in its earliest times.

But the ancient settlement
didn't stop here.

The team has spotted
more in the data.

I will show you
something really special.

Analyzing the satellite
imagery using infrared

reveals that just like
the city of the Shang,

there are more walls,
and they're much further out.

That's amazing!

So here you can see
almost all the sections

of the city walls.

As the population
continued to grow,

the city expanded,

eventually forming an overall
layout of a bigger city

surrounding the smaller one.

So the great city
of the Shu expanded over time.

A huge ring of outer walls

surrounding an area
of 1.4 square miles,

the same as 160
Manhattan blocks.

For this period,
that's a really big city.

Yes.

Then,
studying the scans further,

something intriguing.

Within the walls,

faint signs of a long-lost
ancient landscape:

a dried-up riverbed.

Just like the Yellow River,

this river would have been
the lifeblood of the city.

But here, they made it
part of the very fabric

of the Shu's capital.

From the data, suggestions that
the Shu channeled the river

to create a network
of moats and canals.

What's revealed is a vast and
sophisticated ancient megacity,

the biggest ever discovered
in all of southern China.

The magnificent capital
of an amazing civilization.

My quest to investigate the
mysterious people of Sanxingdui

has taken me from
the great Yellow River

to the southern lowlands

and into the high mountain range
that divides them.

And what I've witnessed
is evidence

that's changing everything
we thought we knew

about the origins
of Chinese civilization.

We now know that Sanxingdui
is a door

into a whole new era
of ancient Chinese history,

opening up the world
of southern China

and the Sichuan Basin,

giving these great people
a name: the Shu.

This was a powerful and
sophisticated civilization

with some of the most
breathtaking bronzes

on the planet,

fantastically rare
gold treasure,

new evidence
of possible writing,

and a staggering capital,

cleverly engineered
to harness its river.

Every new discovery
at Sanxingdui reveals more

about this truly remarkable
civilization

that's only now been given
its rightful place

in the history of ancient China.

♪ ♪